Henry Dowsey Newman
Talbot Village was built by the Talbot sisters: Georgina and Mary Anne during the 1850's and onwards to provide work and shelter for the impoverished. When Mary Anne Talbot passed, she left money in her will to Lord Leven and Melville. He subsequently utilised some of this money to fund the building of The Talbot Manor Home for Boys in her memory. It opened in 1890 and was run by The Waifs and Strays Society and is situated on the eastern outskirts of the village as a purpose-built haven for destitute boys. The boys attended the local village school and church. The boys cultivated the large garden to grow vegetables for the home and enjoyed a range exercises in the extended grounds.
Whilst researching some of the inmates that were placed in Talbot Manor Home for Boys, I investigated further into the life of one boy. This is his short, but very intense, life story.
Henry Dowsey Newman {aka Harry} was born on 18th August 1899 in Battersea, Wandsworth, London, England. He was baptised on the 3rd October 1899 at St Peters Church, Plough Road, Battersea. The 1901 census shows him living at 97 Meyrick Road in Battersea. His father, Ernest Newman was a Tram Conductor. He was born in 1870 and died in 1903 when Henry was only four years old. He was buried in Morden, Surrey. Henrys’ mother, Elizabeth Ann Newman (nee Dowsey), was born in 1869 in South Shields, County Durham. They were married in 1895 in Marylebone, London.
Henry had four full siblings. His eldest being, as sister named Hilda Florence (1895 – 1960). Her death is recorded as being in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Victor Ernest (1897 – 1923). He was married, age 25, being a Telephonist in Old Trafford, Manchester, to Lydia May Fairchild, age 24, of 90 Meyrick Road, Battersea, on 9th September 1922 at St. Peter’s Church, Plough Road, Battersea. There is a death recorded for him as being in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.
Ernest (1903 – 1930). He was a Sheet Metal Worker and married Ellen Maud Warner, aged 20 and born in England, on 17th August 1930 in Toronto, Canada. They lived at 34 Victoria Boulevard, Mount Dennis, Ontario.
There are no records of his sister Eleanor (aka Nelly) Constance (1901 -1982). No further information is known about her life.
Henrys’ mother remarried in 1909, at the age of 40, to Walter Parker, aged 30. He lived in the D Quarter, Wandsworth, London and worked as a Labourer in a Granary. The 1911 census shows them living at 47 Lavender Terrace, Battersea. It is recorded that they had five children living with them. She died in 1925; aged 56 in Battersea, her name is recorded as being Elizabeth Ann Dowsey Newman Parker.
This same year, Walter Parker is recorded as enlisting with The South Shields Regiment as a Private. His Service Number was 202403. He was killed in action on 30th November 1917 at the Battle of Cambrai. He was buried at the Orival Wood Cemetery, Flesquieres, France – plot number 11.C.31.
Up until this time the family had been considered to be very respectable and Mrs Newman/Parker was noted to be a ‘superior’ woman. Mrs Newman/Parker carried out needlework and let lodgings but, this ended up being more than she could manage with still having children and beginning to get into debt. When she was left a widow, and found life difficult, the Battersea Committee took up her case and had two of her children put into orphanages, which helped her considerably. She is recorded as seeming anxious to help herself and to have made a brave struggle. Henry was initially to go with his siblings but his mother changed her mind and eventually applied with the Church of England Incorporated Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays to home him.
By 1911, Henry was living as an inmate at Talbot Manor Home for Boys in Bournemouth, Dorset, where he stayed until he immigrated to Canada.
He travelled to Quebec in Canada on the 29th April 1914 from Liverpool on the ‘Victorian’ with The Waifs and Strays Society, arriving on the 9th May1914 and being forwarded to Gibbs House, Sherbrooke, Canada. He is recorded as living with H. Martin in East Sherbrooke and working as a farm Labourer. He is described as being five foot six inches tall, of medium complexion, freckled faced with brown eyes and hair. His religion was Church of England.
He enlisted on 6th September 1916, apparently underage (he stated that he was a year older than he actually was). His allocated pay was $15 per month, which was sent to his mother. He was a Private with the 87th Battalion Canadian Infantry, formerly the 244th Battalion.
Henry embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 28th March 1917 aboard SS Lapland, arriving in England on 7th April 1917. He then transferred to France on 18th September 1917. Whilst on a working party in July 1918 he fell and sprained his ankle, which was considered to be accidental.
On 2nd September 1918, whilst at the Battle of Arras in France Henry received a gunshot wound to the head. The 3rd Canadian Field ambulance stated he was ‘dangerously ill’. Being transferred to the 33 Casualty Clearance Station on 20th September he was stated as improving following an x-ray. Henry stayed there until 27th September and was then transferred to 26 General Hospital, Etaples, France. He is recorded as having a large pulsating wound in his frontal region and being incontinent of urine during the night. His wound was healing but he still had some bone showing. He was once again evacuated to England on the HS Princess Elizabeth and was admitted on 15th October 1918 to 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell (now Kings Collage Hospital). He had an operation, that was recorded as an excision of the frontal bone (2 ½ inches by 1 ½ inches) slightly to the right of his median line, about 1 ½ inches above the orbit. He still had small particles of metal to the frontal lobe region on 16th November 1918. He stayed at the Brondesbury Park Military Hospital until 20th March 1919. On 21st March 1919 he was admitted to 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington. He was noted as wearing a forehead shield, but his colour fields of vision had been considerably contracted. Henry moved to the 5th Canadian General Hospital, Kirkdale, Liverpool. On 30th May 1919 he had 3 fillings.
Henry was invalided to Canada on 10th June 1919 aboard the SS Essequito, arriving 20th June 1919. On 25th June 1919 he was admitted to Colonel Belcher Military Hospital, Calgary, Alberta aged 20 years old. His gunshot wound to his head considered healed with no nervous manifestations, headaches on exertion or when bending. He was discharged on 11th August 1919 and discharged from service. Although he was considered to be medically unfit, weighing 147lbs and 5’ 91/2” tall, he went on to service for a further 6 months in Canada, 5 months in England and 13 months in France.
It is recorded that Henry died on 6th August 1923, aged 23, of wounds received in action, when he was in Alberta, Canada. At this time, I have not been able to find where he is buried.